Typically, a communication device (e.g., computer or other communication device) connects to a network (e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) network) via one or more interfaces. Each interface is assigned a network address (e.g., an IP address). When an administrator (or “operator”) changes the network address of an interface, any currently established connections using that address may not function correctly. Accordingly, changing the IP addresses of an interface usually requires service disrupting measures (e.g., a system restart or at least a process restart). While it is possible to add an alias address to an interface, it is still problematic to remove the primary address without impacting negatively on the applications running in the device that are using the primary address.
What is desired are improved systems and methods for changing the address of an interface.